(Cricket news) India will be returning to playing red ball cricket after a long time. The men in blue will be playing 2 Tests against Bangladesh and the BCCI has announced the squad for the same. The squad is pretty standard but a couple of decisions have come under the scanner and rightly so. The two matches are very crucial keeping the WTC qualification in mind. India need to win both the matches to keep their hopes of making it to the WTC final as even a single draw will dent their chances. India will be playing a Test match for the first time since the postponed Test in England.

India's squad for 2 Tests Vs Bangladesh:

Rohit Sharma (C), KL Rahul (VC), Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Umesh Yadav

Shubman Gill, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, KS Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav have kept their place in the squad as expected. Axar Patel who wasn't a part of the England Test is back as India are playing in more spin friendly conditions. Kuldeep Yadav is also back in the squad as a wrist spin option. KL Rahul missed the game against England due to an injury but he is back as is captain Rohit Sharma who was out due to Covid in England. 

Prasidh Krishna is out of the squad as India don't need more than 4 seam bowling options while Jasprit Bumrah is out with an injury. The most controversial decision is the dropping of Hanuma Vihari. The middle order batter has always been a victim of these selection changes. He hasn't really performed at the international stage since his gritty innings at the SCG but he definitely deserves more opportunities. Sarfaraz Khan who has been on fire in the domestic red ball season is yet to earn his maiden international call-up. The middle order batter is the most in-form batter in the domestic circuit and if he doesn't get a chance now then when will he get an opportunity is the question on everybody's mind.

Talking about the exclusion of Vihari, chief selector Chetan Sharma said "We discussed a lot about him. Our middle-order is packed. Hanuma is still in the mix but sometimes a player will miss out. Players selected as per the tour. He will come back very soon". He later commented on Sarfaraz Khan saying "Sarfaraz Khan is a brilliant player but we don't have a space now – he is a serious contender". 

Also read: Takeaways from India's ODI squads for New Zealand & Bangladesh series